One scene stands out in the mind in particular, when Mulan (who at this point has risen to a position of authority in the army, a sub-commander) has to stand by and watch helplessly as some of her men being tortured and then slaughtered by the Rouran warriors because she has fallen into a trap in the canyon. I was absolutely shocked by how different the Chinese film was from the Americanized, Disney version of Mulan, even accounting for the difference in their target audiences. In the Chinese film, Mulan does take her father’s place in the army, just like the Disney version (and also the legendary version), however the Chinese army is fighting against the Mongolian tribes of the Rouran people, rather than the Huns, and the fighting shown is highly realistic, much more violent than I would’ve expected.
Recently I watched a Chinese film from 2009 titled “Mulan: Rise of a Warrior” or “Mulan: Legendary Warrior” (depending on the translation). It was based off of the possibly historic/legendary “Ballad of Hua Mulan”, which is the oldest known telling of the famous heroine’s story and was probably composed during the Northern Wei dynasty, possibly around 400 AD, a fact which the movie nods to by also taking place during this time period, 450 AD to be exact.